Effect of Preconstruction Planning Effort on Sheet Metal Project Performance
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 136, Issue 2
Abstract
The complexity of construction industry requires the identification of work tasks and the coordination of interactions among them. As a result, construction planning is considered to be one of the most critical steps toward success and is the main focus of past research. Consequently, little research has been performed regarding the preconstruction planning, which is the planning completed by the contractor in the period between project award and project execution. This paper focuses on sheet metal preconstruction planning, primarily that of mechanical and heating ventilations and air conditioning contractors. The research was completed in three phases: phase one gathered data on the current state of preconstruction planning, phase two developed a model sheet metal preconstruction planning process to be used by sheet metal contractors, and phase three validated the model preconstruction planning process. Based on project data collected for this research, projects that used a planning process similar to the model process performed more successfully—they achieved an average profit margin of 23% while projects that were poorly planned experienced an average profit margin of −3%.
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Acknowledgments
This paper results from research sponsored by the New Horizons Foundations. Additional appreciation is extended to the sheet metal contractors who met with the researcher and shared project data.
References
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 136 • Issue 2 • February 2010
Pages: 235 - 241
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Jun 1, 2007
Accepted: Mar 30, 2009
Published online: Jan 15, 2010
Published in print: Feb 2010
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